In order to ship products to the European Union you have to get them "CE" certified. The letters CE themselves stand for "European Conformity" and are meant to act as a consumer safeguard against unsafe imported products. The CE certification process is performed by third-party companies, and the requirements depend on the product you are importing.
Directives
The European Union puts different categories of products under the jurisdiction of different CE directives. These directives are responsible for establishing product quality guidelines in their fields, and all products shipped into the EU that fall within a directive must be CE certified. Some examples of directive categories are electronics, items that emit noise and items that emit waste. If your product does not fall within a directive it does not need to be certified. In its business guide the European Union advises businesses to get an authorized representative to act on behalf of the company to continually monitor changes in the directive requirements and negotiate with EU officials on your behalf.
Modules
To become CE certified, a product is inspected in a variety of ways. Each test is a separate module. These modules are used to inspect the conformity of the product. They verify a minimally acceptable product quality and an efficient, environmentally friendly production process. The operations are performed by EU-approved agencies and must be performed for all new CE eligible products entering the EU. When these modules are completed, the appropriate CE directive verifies that product ID numbers are stored in its database.
Marking
Part of the certification process is the branding of products that are CE certified. The CE logo shows consumers that a product has passed the CE quality control process. All products that fall under a directive's jurisdiction must be "CE" marked, and those that fall under multiple jurisdictions must be "CE" marked by all applicable directives. Products that do not fall under a directive are not allowed to be marked. The manufacturer is required to affix the label himself, and it must be clearly visible on the product labeling.
New Approach
In 2010 the European Union established operational principles for its directive called the "New Approach," which chose to emphasize new products being introduced into the European Union over existing products that have not changed much. While the inspection of new products from exporters is prioritized over older products, the EU states that existing products that have undergone significant changes will be considered new in their function and treated equally. Products intended solely for the military and police force are exempt from this process.
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